By Atanu Biswas
As the legendary British physicist Peter Higgs passed away at the age of 94, it marked the end of an incredibly exceptional academic career in the present-day publication-hungry academic climate. Higgs showed how the boson helps bind the universe together with his groundbreaking theory of the Higgs boson. The particle was the missing piece in the Standard Model of particle physics, which was predicted in 1964 by Higgs.
After 48 years, scientists using the $10-billion particle collider located in a 27-kilometre tunnel beneath the Swiss-French border at CERN, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, announced in 2012 that they had finally found a Higgs boson, marking one of the biggest breakthroughs in physics in decades. About 50 years after his revolutionary discovery, in 2013, Higgs, dubbed the “Particle Man” in a 2013 BBC documentary, won the Nobel Prize in physics.
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The Higgs boson is considered the holy grail of physics since it reveals the mechanism by which subatomic material acquires mass. For us, it also serves as a poignant reminder of the eminent Indian physicist Satyendra Nath Bose. Although several Nobel Prizes have been awarded for research related to the concepts of the boson, Bose-Einstein condensate, and Bose-Einstein statistics, Bose was sadly never a recipient of the Nobel Prize.
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Higgs boson is often known as the “God particle”. The term was popularised by the 1993 book The God Particle: If the Universe Is the Answer, What Is the Question? by 1988 physics Nobel Prize winner Leon Lederman and scientific writer Dick Teresi. Among others, Higgs has been a harsh critic of the term. “That name was a kind of joke, and not a very good one… it’s so misleading,” Higgs said.
Higgs’ academic career offers society an opportunity for introspection. Since today’s academics are expected to collaborate and churn out papers constantly, Higgs really doubted that a breakthrough similar to the discovery of the Higgs boson could be made in the current academic environment. Travelling to Stockholm to accept the Nobel Prize in 2013, he spoke with The Guardian and stated, “It’s difficult to imagine how I would ever have enough peace and quiet in the present sort of climate to do what I did in 1964.”
There has been a seismic shift in the academic environment everywhere in the world since the 1960s. From appointments to promotions, tenure to salary hikes, research funding to dignity — almost everything in today’s academic environment is directly proportional to research publications. Further, the quality of research articles is generally assessed based on the relative standing of the journals that publish them. The motivation behind research in most parts of the world is peer pressure to publish; presently, academics are often forced to follow the maxim “publish or perish”. The most crucial measures of a researcher’s advancement and research prowess, regardless of experience levels, are publication metrics. And instead of focusing on high-quality research, this has turned academia into an unending rat race of publishing metrics.
From the Far East to Europe and the US, academics are enmeshed in a tangle of “compulsory” research projects. Universities nowadays are highly focused on their international rankings done by various organisations; a university’s ranking depends partially on the publications of their faculty members. But, some people question the value of these rankings as well.
Peter Higgs published less than 10 papers following his epoch-making 1964 publication. Furthermore, in his 2022 book Elusive: How Peter Higgs Solved the Mystery of Mass, scientist Frank Close cited Higgs, stating that the concept of the Higgs boson was “the only really original idea I’ve ever had”. Higgs was honest enough to acknowledge that. And he had no desire to create a lot of non-consequential work.
In effect, Higgs essentially became “an embarrassment to the department”. Every academic institution periodically conducts research assessments, and at Edinburgh University, when they asked around the department to give a list of recent publications, Higgs would reply “None”. Higgs believed that in today’s academic system, no university would have employed him since he would not be deemed “productive” enough. In fact, if he hadn’t received a 1980 Nobel nomination, he most likely would have been fired!
Things have gotten worse since Higgs’ remarks. The journal Nature posted a Facebook message in September 2016, requesting scientists beginning their first independent position to share their experiences. According to the study, researchers faced increased pressure, fewer resources, and less job stability. Regardless of whether their study is credible and verifiable, people who consistently publish “new and exciting” research will receive the best grants and positions under the current “publish or perish” system.
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The Nature survey found the majority of researchers only dedicate around 38% of their time to research; the remaining portion is typically divided between administrative and teaching obligations, both of which are necessary to secure employment at a university. Still, the system wonders why there are no modern Einsteins, Feynmans, or Marie Curies! According to Bruce Alberts, a biochemist at the University of California, San Francisco, the pressure placed on scientists today promotes “mediocre science”. “It’s not about fairness. It’s about how to get the best science for the dollar,” he stated.
The story of Peter Higgs, arguably one of the last stalwarts to maintain his own academic freedom by eschewing the relentless publication pressure, may highlight the absurdities of the current global culture in academia. Further, his case suggests that deep introspection by society towards expectations from academia is also necessary.
The author is Professor of statistics, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata.
Disclaimer: Views expressed are personal and do not reflect the official position or policy of Financial Express Online. Reproducing this content without permission is prohibited.
By Atanu Biswas
As the legendary British physicist Peter Higgs passed away at the age of 94, it marked the end of an incredibly exceptional academic career in the present-day publication-hungry academic climate. Higgs showed how the boson helps bind the universe together with his groundbreaking theory of the Higgs boson. The particle was the missing piece in the Standard Model of particle physics, which was predicted in 1964 by Higgs.
After 48 years, scientists using the $10-billion particle collider located in a 27-kilometre tunnel beneath the Swiss-French border at CERN, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, announced in 2012 that they had finally found a Higgs boson, marking one of the biggest breakthroughs in physics in decades. About 50 years after his revolutionary discovery, in 2013, Higgs, dubbed the “Particle Man” in a 2013 BBC documentary, won the Nobel Prize in physics.
The Higgs boson is considered the holy grail of physics since it reveals the mechanism by which subatomic material acquires mass. For us, it also serves as a poignant reminder of the eminent Indian physicist Satyendra Nath Bose. Although several Nobel Prizes have been awarded for research related to the concepts of the boson, Bose-Einstein condensate, and Bose-Einstein statistics, Bose was sadly never a recipient of the Nobel Prize.
Higgs boson is often known as the “God particle”. The term was popularised by the 1993 book The God Particle: If the Universe Is the Answer, What Is the Question? by 1988 physics Nobel Prize winner Leon Lederman and scientific writer Dick Teresi. Among others, Higgs has been a harsh critic of the term. “That name was a kind of joke, and not a very good one… it’s so misleading,” Higgs said.
Higgs’ academic career offers society an opportunity for introspection. Since today’s academics are expected to collaborate and churn out papers constantly, Higgs really doubted that a breakthrough similar to the discovery of the Higgs boson could be made in the current academic environment. Travelling to Stockholm to accept the Nobel Prize in 2013, he spoke with The Guardian and stated, “It’s difficult to imagine how I would ever have enough peace and quiet in the present sort of climate to do what I did in 1964.”
There has been a seismic shift in the academic environment everywhere in the world since the 1960s. From appointments to promotions, tenure to salary hikes, research funding to dignity — almost everything in today’s academic environment is directly proportional to research publications. Further, the quality of research articles is generally assessed based on the relative standing of the journals that publish them. The motivation behind research in most parts of the world is peer pressure to publish; presently, academics are often forced to follow the maxim “publish or perish”. The most crucial measures of a researcher’s advancement and research prowess, regardless of experience levels, are publication metrics. And instead of focusing on high-quality research, this has turned academia into an unending rat race of publishing metrics.
From the Far East to Europe and the US, academics are enmeshed in a tangle of “compulsory” research projects. Universities nowadays are highly focused on their international rankings done by various organisations; a university’s ranking depends partially on the publications of their faculty members. But, some people question the value of these rankings as well.
Peter Higgs published less than 10 papers following his epoch-making 1964 publication. Furthermore, in his 2022 book Elusive: How Peter Higgs Solved the Mystery of Mass, scientist Frank Close cited Higgs, stating that the concept of the Higgs boson was “the only really original idea I’ve ever had”. Higgs was honest enough to acknowledge that. And he had no desire to create a lot of non-consequential work.
In effect, Higgs essentially became “an embarrassment to the department”. Every academic institution periodically conducts research assessments, and at Edinburgh University, when they asked around the department to give a list of recent publications, Higgs would reply “None”. Higgs believed that in today’s academic system, no university would have employed him since he would not be deemed “productive” enough. In fact, if he hadn’t received a 1980 Nobel nomination, he most likely would have been fired!
Things have gotten worse since Higgs’ remarks. The journal Nature posted a Facebook message in September 2016, requesting scientists beginning their first independent position to share their experiences. According to the study, researchers faced increased pressure, fewer resources, and less job stability. Regardless of whether their study is credible and verifiable, people who consistently publish “new and exciting” research will receive the best grants and positions under the current “publish or perish” system.
The Nature survey found the majority of researchers only dedicate around 38% of their time to research; the remaining portion is typically divided between administrative and teaching obligations, both of which are necessary to secure employment at a university. Still, the system wonders why there are no modern Einsteins, Feynmans, or Marie Curies! According to Bruce Alberts, a biochemist at the University of California, San Francisco, the pressure placed on scientists today promotes “mediocre science”. “It’s not about fairness. It’s about how to get the best science for the dollar,” he stated.
The story of Peter Higgs, arguably one of the last stalwarts to maintain his own academic freedom by eschewing the relentless publication pressure, may highlight the absurdities of the current global culture in academia. Further, his case suggests that deep introspection by society towards expectations from academia is also necessary.
The author is Professor of statistics, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata.
Disclaimer: Views expressed are personal and do not reflect the official position or policy of Financial Express Online. Reproducing this content without permission is prohibited.
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